OneNote 2013 sync issue

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I just started a new Notebook. I set it up on my laptop drive (NOT SkyDrive) and now keep getting a sync error. This is the first issue I have had with OneNote. My first two Notebooks were, as far as I can recall, issue free.

This is the error message I see when I open Onenote. It is attached to the new Notebook: “We can’t sync the notebook because you’re offline or because the network location is unavailable. (Error code: 0x3)”.

Trouble is I am NOT offline (I’m on this web page and in the Forum so I AM ONline)

I have followed all the help suggestions that were provided for the sync issue, including restarting the computer, and nothing has worked. The only things I have done recently are (1) delete the first NoteBook I made last year which I had not used since. As a matter-of-fact, the second notebook is actually a continuation of the first one after I had copied & pasted the first notebook’s sections & pages into the 2nd notebook. I just kept the first one around in-case I had forgotten something from it; and (2) installed a new wireless router as the old one went toes up and was harshing my internet experience.

I don’t know that the sync issue is even going to cause me any real issues BUT I do not want to build the newer NoteBook and then have it come crashing down at some time because of the sync issue.

I look forward to hearing back from anyone who can shed some light on this issue.

Thanks in advance,

Steve Gardella

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As you do, when I create a new notebook it is usually on my laptop. When you do, are you getting the screen that asks you where you want the notebook placed, and what are you choosing? 38349-New-Notebook
Maybe you accidentally chose to save it to your computer? Either way you might check to see if you can see the notebook in Onenote.com

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John,

Thank you for replying to my post.

I am a bit confused. Since I do not wish to use cloud services unless absolutely necessary I selected “Computer” as the place to store my NoteBook. I do this because I am under the impression that doing so saves the NoteBook in my Documents folder (with my other NoteBook). If I save a NoteBook to OneDrive is that not saving it to a cloud service?

I cannot recall the steps I took when saving my first NoteBooks but have not had a problem with them. I have synched the remaining NoteBook a number of times assuming I am synching it with a folder on my laptop and not in the “cloud”. I have also backed up my NoteBooks w/o a problem.

I look forward to hearing back from you so that I can get this other NoteBook off the ground and start building on it.

Thanks again for your time.

Steve Gardella

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John,

Thank you for replying to my post.

I am a bit confused. Since I do not wish to use cloud services unless absolutely necessary I selected “Computer” as the place to store my NoteBook. I do this because I am under the impression that doing so saves the NoteBook in my Documents folder (with my other NoteBook). If I save a NoteBook to OneDrive is that not saving it to a cloud service?

I cannot recall the steps I took when saving my first NoteBooks but have not had a problem with them. I have synched the remaining NoteBook a number of times assuming I am synching it with a folder on my laptop and not in the “cloud”. I have also backed up my NoteBooks w/o a problem.

I look forward to hearing back from you so that I can get this other NoteBook off the ground and start building on it.

Thanks again for your time.

Steve Gardella

Syncing only makes sense for notebooks kept on Onedrive. Local notebooks do not need to be synced, as they are local. Are you sure about the location of the saved notebook?

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As I understand (or misunderstand) it, there are two versions of OneNote; one that is available free as an application with Windows 8, and another which comes as part of Office 2013. I am not an experienced OneNote user in any version of it, but because there are two versions available to you if you have both Win 8 and Office 2013, it may be that you have ‘chosen’ the wrong version in trying to use it.

Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer are different creatures, and I have a haunting suspicion that Windows 8 OneNote and Office 2013 OneNote may be different creatures as well. I emphasize that that is mere suspicion, and I look forward to having it clarified for all (one?) of us here in confusionland.

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Here is an update based on what I see on my own system.

OneNote comes from the Windows Store in Windows 8 ‘free’, and it is subject to the conditions that are attached to all applications that come from the Store, ‘plus any additional conditions’. In general, everything that I can see that comes from Windows Store comes with conditions that may compromise your privacy, and Microsoft is good enough to tell you this if you look in the right place.

OneNote 2013 is part of Office 2013, you paid a fortune for it if you have it, and Microsoft appears to be quiet on the privacy front if you have it.

I see from my system that I have both available to me. OneNote 2013 is installed, along with the rest of Office, and OneNote ‘Windows Store’ is not, but I ‘own’ it and can install it at any time (which I have no intention of doing).

Any difference in ‘features’ between the Office 2013 version and the Windows Store version are best left to experts who know what to look for and, we hope, will add that information to the thread.

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dogberry,

I purchased a license for OneNote as a part of the MS Office suite when I purchased my laptop. It is not a free version.

Checking the Properties for both Notebooks I see that both show that the Notebook files are stored in my Documents folder.

Also, I just double checked the Options Menu and realized I have NOT been syncing my established Notebook but have been saving it using either of the 2 Save selections (All Notebooks or Changed Files of the Notebooks) which begs the question: Why am I getting a sync error (red ‘X’ flashing at the corner of the title box) when my Notebook is saved to my Documents folder and NOT a cloud file/service?

Now I am really confused!!! I have gone from NO problem with my 1st NoteBook to one major headache with my NEW, as of yet unpopulated, NoteBook

Thanks,

Steve Gardella

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Office re-installation will not solve the problem.
You may find answers that deleting credentials (in control panel) will help. But deleting credentials solves issue only in one or two Windows sessions. In next or two days issue comes back. I changed default browser from Google Chrome to Internet Explorer, closed OneNote and open and sync was fine for one day. Next day free OneNote lost synchronisation. I could not reach OneDrive with Internet Explorer but could with Google Chrome.

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Office re-installation will not solve the problem.
You may find answers that deleting credentials (in control panel) will help. But deleting credentials solves issue only in one or two Windows sessions. In next or two days issue comes back. I changed default browser from Google Chrome to Internet Explorer, closed OneNote and open and sync is fine. Looks like OneNote synchronization is based on Internet Explorer. Microsoft and Google should fix it. Until they fix it we are forced to have IE as default browser to have synchronization working.

Sorry, I disagree. To be honest I must say I find your answer totally wrong. I use multiple OneNote notebooks on OneDrive every single day and they sync without a hitch. Chrome has been my default browser for several years and it hasn’t affected OneNote syncing one single time. This happens both with personal notebooks, or notebooks updated cooperatively with co-workers.

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Sorry, I disagree. To be honest I must say I find your answer totally wrong. I use multiple OneNote notebooks on OneDrive every single day and they sync without a hitch. Chrome has been my default browser for several years and it hasn’t affected OneNote syncing one single time. This happens both with personal notebooks, or notebooks updated cooperatively with co-workers.

OneNote being part of Windows 8 is not affected by sync issue. Only OneNote from MS Office 2013 was affected in my case. I was deleting credentials in control panel for office every 2nd day to get it synchronize (could not find another solution, and do not want to reinstall full system). Reinstalling MS Office 2013 also done and not resolved issue. Today I have tried something different and I changed default browser to Internet Explorer and after reopening OneNote synchronization is fine. I am also using Chrome and it worked in the past but stopped from 3 or 4 months (although if done several restarts OneNote 2013 synchronisation worked sometimes).

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OneNote being part of Windows 8 is not affected by sync issue. Only OneNote from MS Office 2013 was affected in my case. I was deleting credentials in control panel for office every 2nd day to get it synchronize (could not find another solution, and do not want to reinstall full system). Reinstalling MS Office 2013 also done and not resolved issue. Today I have tried something different and I changed default browser to Internet Explorer and after reopening OneNote synchronization is fine. I am also using Chrome and it worked in the past but stopped from 3 or 4 months (although if done several restarts OneNote 2013 synchronisation worked sometimes).

OneNote is not part of Windows 8. I have OneNote as one of the apps that is part of Office 2013 and I have it both on a Windows 7 desktop and a Windows 8 laptop. At my company, the scenario is similar, some people use Windows 7, others use Windows 8, all use Chrome as the default browser, no one has syncing issues.

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OneNote is not part of Windows 8. I have OneNote as one of the apps that is part of Office 2013 and I have it both on a Windows 7 desktop and a Windows 8 laptop. At my company, the scenario is similar, some people use Windows 7, others use Windows 8, all use Chrome as the default browser, no one has syncing issues.

I am home user and synchronizing OneNote to OneDrive.

Ok changing default browser was only temporary solution working one day. OneNote 2013 has not synchronised and currently I cannot get login to OneDrive with Internet Explorer but can with Chrome. Free OneNote working before now stating is disconnected (check Internet connection). Now running Chrome fixed synchronisation in OneNote 2013. When I run Internet Explorer login to OneDrive I get message: “Something went wrong and we can’t sign you in right now. Please try again later.” It is weird.

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I purchased a license for OneNote as a part of the MS Office suite when I purchased my laptop. It is not a free version.

Things do change.

http://www.onenote.com/

Get OneNote for free on all your devices

There’s other features available for it.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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BEWARE, “Evil disguised as Beauty”. Onenote (under the ghastly gaze of Onedrive) can suck time like a black hole. Today’s, depressing total; 8 hours online with Microsoft tech support. My Onenote synchronization problem has sucked up DAYS of infuriating “not my job” passthrough from tech to tech to tech. Typically I’d have to re-explain my situation from the top, to each and every tech I’d either chat or speak to. Next were the obligatory “let’s try” prescribed diagnostic checklists. By the end of each day, I’d be softly growling “get Onenote files from this folder to that folder. Make sure they sync with Onedrive. Simple right? Not for the 12-15 Microsoft employees I have spoken to thus far! Each and every one of the them assured me, they were the ones to fix this. To a tech, twice a day for 3 days, I’d get passed from 1 boiler room (I think they are in the Philippines) to the next boiler room. It’s nuts. I’ve seen no evidence they have any organized means of communication from one person to the next. Tomorrow, I am supposed to be called by a Onenote specialist at 11:00am.
I have steadfastly avoided all things Microsoft for nearly 15 years. My boycott was broken only when I fell for a gorgeous app named “Onenote”. I really loved that app. We had worked so beautifully together for precious months. But the honeymoon came to a sudden, inexplicable halt last week. I feel betrayed. I had nothing but kind words and praise for you Onenote. How could you do this to me?:mad:

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There was an update to OneNote on the latest Update Tuesday, and I think it was covered in my Windows 7 update, where I have it in Office 2010. Maybe they fixed what was broke for you, or maybe they are railroading us to the Cloud by stealth. Anything from a simple patch to a grand conspiracy is possible. I suppose we could look it up, but that would spoil the fun.

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In the end, it took MS 23 hours of phone time to get my issue resolved to a level where I could sync Onenote at all. It only took a very diligent tech on the Sharepoint support team 7 hours over 2 days to get Onenote syncing at all. However,in the process he had to disable my “consumer’ version of Onedrive and warned me never to try and click on a “.one file” on my laptop. He went on to warn very succinctly, “From this day forward, only open Onenote files in Onenote not Windows Explorer. Don’t even try to find your Onenote files on your computer”.
Office and Windows chronic version-itis is getting worse and worse. Windows 8.1 (version flavor-of-the-month), Onenote consumer or business, and Office 365 Home are having a hard time playing together. Now that I have Office 365 Business installed I’m only left with a problem syncing my Android with Onenote. Works on my iPhone but not my Android. BEWARE, Onenote addicts.

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redwood:

Firstly, thanks for sharing this and your Warning!.

How did the SharePoint support person disable the consumer version of Onedrive? I am assuming for “consumer version” of ONEDRIVE that you mean the Onedrive that installs with the NON-Pro Windows8.1?3

Paul

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As I remember you can disable Onedrive in the tool tray by right clicking on the Onedrive icon and choosing disable. However, today, I notice the icon for Onedrive is not in my tool tray and the icon in windows folder is not crossed out. My Onenotes are missing from my iPhone! Oy, what next!
Next- Something very, very strange must have happened last night. Apparently, one of multitudinous techs that I contacted, somehow, unbeknownst to me, shifted over all my Onenote notebooks onto my business Onedrive and everything is syncing correctly even my Android phone is syncing (which it hadn’t for 2 weeks). I just had to refresh my Onenote on the two phones I use and it isn’t working.
5 minutes later.
Onenote syncing Onedrive, Laptop, iPhone but not Android. The Android did sync once but now I’m back to getting an error message about security certificates. That’s an issue I’ve researched which apparently is common but goes unanswered at MS or any other sites.

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redwood:

Firstly, thanks for sharing this and your Warning!.

How did the SharePoint support person disable the consumer version of Onedrive? I am assuming for “consumer version” of ONEDRIVE that you mean the Onedrive that installs with the NON-Pro Windows8.1?3

Paul

re: “SharePoint support person”… He went into some black box at Microsoft and made the switch. I was not privy to his actions…rk

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redwood:

Firstly, thanks for sharing this and your Warning!.

How did the SharePoint support person disable the consumer version of Onedrive? I am assuming for “consumer version” of ONEDRIVE that you mean the Onedrive that installs with the NON-Pro Windows8.1?3

Paul

I’m pretty sure the “consumer version” refers to the individual user-facing OneDrive, as opposed to OneDrive for Business, which is a totally separate account, built on top of SharePoint, and available if you’re part of an org that uses Office 365 for Business. It doesn’t have to do with one’s operating system.

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